Skip to main content

tv   Special Report With Bret Baier  FOX News  January 27, 2010 6:00pm-6:52pm EST

6:00 pm
president obama concentrates on jobs an spending in tonight's "state of the union" speech. we'll preview the address, look at how it will play on capitol hill and we'll have brit hume's analysis. republicans press the attorney general for answers about why the christmas day bombing suspect is being treated like a criminal. and not a terrorist. plus, more pushback on terrorist trials in new york. and one of the most outspoken players on super bowl sunday isn't even in the game. controversy over football and abortion. all that, plus the fox all-stars right here, right now. >> bret: welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. "state of the union" address that was supposed to celebrate the achievement of president obama's top agenda item, healthcare reform. will instead instead attempt t reconnect wounded leader with public that swept him to power a little more than a year ago. we have fox team coverage.
6:01 pm
brit hume is here out of the washington bureau. chief political spore on the dent carl cameron looks at what -- correspondent carl cameron and then major garrett, white house spore respondent. nancy pelosi is challenging the president ahead of the speech on one of the key proposals? >> reporter: right. economy and jobs will dominate the speech. white house made it clear in the last two days, not healthcare, which a story unto itself. but the president is going to try to appeal to independents and republicans concerned about the deficit saying i want a three-year spending freeze, at least as it relates to non-defense discretionary spending. the speaker said, no, no, i want it applied to the defense department budget. a few months ago on the north lawn, i asked the president's senior advisor david axelrod what he thought of the speaker's idea. >> what we can't do at a time we're in two wars and we have a very determined economy in
6:02 pm
al-qaeda, we can't stand down. we have to have adequate defense. >> the white house disagrees with the speaker on that the -- >> i haven't heard what the speaker said. i'm not going to get in debate with the speaker but what we're recommending is discretionary spending freeze. >> the debate is on with speaker pelosi. unsettled political environment, bret. for president and his preparation tonight, he does not appear unsettled. >> the president put together the final eedits of his first "state of the union" this morning and held one december rehearsal in the white house theater this afternoon. the message -- >> it's a good one. >> reporter: mr. obama's ever-confident approach contrasts with the near dread among the democrats and newfound optimism amongst the once demoralized republicans. scott brown's victory scuddled for now. the president's month-long push for healthcare reform in its place, the jobs legislation. >> he will outline tax cuts for small businesses that hire more workers, eliminating capital gains for
6:03 pm
people that invest in a small business. >> two-third of the speech will be devoted to jobs and the economy. included will be a call for three-year freeze in non-security, non-entitleme ment spending. they will reflect the anxiety evident in massachusetts. >> i don't recall one where a president was having to give "state of the union" address the week after a major defeat politically. >> when you are in a hole, stop digging. we hope that the president has gotten that message from the american people. because that is what they have been telling him. over the last many months. stop digging. >> the lurch for job and deficit reduction conveniently forgotten is once were both part of healthcare reform. >> if we want to create jobs and rebuild the economy and get the federal budget under control we have to address the crushing cost of healthcare this year. >> that was last year. as for this year in healthcare, david axelrod
6:04 pm
told me there is still no path forward. many of the talking points behind healthcare has been set aside along with the legislation, to focus intently on jobs and the economy. >> bret: much more on that in the special. thanks a lot. democrats still control the house and senate. they will look to the president tonight help them set a course for the next year. chief political spsplipoliticalt carl cameron has that part of the story. >> reporter: for majority democrats the state of the election year matter and they're definitely feeling the heat. without a plan to proceed on last year's top and now stalled presidential priority, house speaker nancy pelosi had a special olympics event insisted healthcare reform is not dead. >> we will make every effort to have healthcare bill. but we will make progress. whatever it is. one way or another. we will go forward with that. >> reporter: but they have no clue to what to move forward on. climate change legislation is
6:05 pm
what pelosi pushed initially last year. now it too is in limbo. barbara boxer is key climate change bill in congress. she is also pivoting to the popular issue for the election, jobs. >> i'm going to stop and say how excited i am to work on jobs, jobs, jobs. >> democrats have few successful reforms to show for last year. they worry the angry election year voters will deem them out of touch and part of the problem. >> individuals are hoping that america will understand their plight. that the united states congress will understand what they're up against, what they're living through. >> republicans say if the president is in touch he will recognize recent g.o.p. upset victories and reverse the administration pursuit of the far left agenda policies. >> as you saw in massachusetts, it wasn't just healthcare, the increases in taxes, it was the cap and trade bill and the fact that the president continues to insist on bringing terrorist in the united states and
6:06 pm
providing them rights. the president has a lot to prove tonight. >> republicans have something to prove, too. their polls soared as the loyal opposition but the voters don't want abject obstructionism. already republican john mccain teamed up with the democratic kren rist evan bayh -- centrist evan bayh. and jeff sessions is planning a similar partnership with clair mccaskill. the g.o.p. leaders say they closed door one-party agenda should end. >> they need to come off the far left agenda which has been rejected by the american people and meet us in the middle. that is the way to get bipartisan achievement. >> if mr. obama starts to cut the bipartisan deals with the republicans, liberals may accuse them of doing business with the opposition and sending his liberal base under the bus in an election year. bret? >> bret: okay, carl. thank you. one of the president's core spon stitch whensies is threat -- core constituencies is threatening to sit out if
6:07 pm
not passed. moveon.org says 71% say they will not contribute democrats and two-third say they won't volunteer if reform fails. against the back drpdrop of tha president, what can we expect ideologically from the president tonight? senior analyst brit hume has thoughts on that. >> hi, bret. as you watch the president tonight, do not be surprised if he sounds more defiant than you expected. if the president has not fully come to terms with what has happened to him, his political base is not even begun to. the mere mention of the spending freeze covering about a fifth of the budget triggered howls from the left. mr. obama is now herbert hoover. nancy pelosi said fine, let's freeze defense, too. the left still thinks that mr. obama's election signaled the ideological sea change in america. this was no longer a center right nation they insisted. it's now a center left country which voted for sweeping liberal change. the truth is there had been no such sea change. one poll of actual voters taken on election day 2008 found that on a left to right
6:08 pm
scale from 1 to 10 voters averaged out below six. center right. success i gallop polls this year found 40% of respondents calling themselves conservative, only 20% liberal. it's so surprise such an electorate was turned off by the staggering deficit spending and the so-called stimulus. they don't believe you can add millions to the health insuran insurance rolls and save money at the same time and they don't want to cut millions out of medicare and raising taxes. add failure of spending to keep the unemployment below 8% and you have the state set for massachusetts. if mr. obama doesn't seem to edge far enough to center, remember his base thinks he's gone too far already. >> bret: critics say this is a rhetorical foift pivot to th center and not one of substance. say there is substance behind it. do you think the address is as far as he's going to go? >> partly this was foretold before election in massachusetts. pivot to the economy.
6:09 pm
that was already in the work. the rest of the steps he's announcing, some are substantive. bill clinton didn't have the same burden to carry. he was not creature of the left that obama has been. he could venture farther without alienating the base. it's harder for obama. >> bret: we'll see. thank you. fox news coverage of the "state of the union" address begins at 8:55 p.m. eastern time on fox news channel. there are questions in one california community about whether one very important book should be kicked out of school. and questions about what happened on christmas day just won't go away for this administration. [ female announcer ] enjoy a complete seafood dinner for two for just $29.99 at red lobster.
6:10 pm
with fresh salads and biscuits, your choice of entrees, and an appetizer or a dessert to share. for a limited time at red lober. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. get wrapped up in the luscious taste of butternut squash, blended with delicate herbs. v8 golden butternut squash. from campbell's. a soup so velvety and delicious you won't be able to contain yourself. campbell's v8 soups.
6:11 pm
host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: does charlie daniels play a mean fiddle? ♪ fiddle music
6:12 pm
charlie:hat's how you do it son. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >> bret: a chicago man accused of helping to plan the terror attack in mumbai, india, in 2008 that killed 166 people pleaded not guilty. david coleman headly was in federal court today.
6:13 pm
he is also charged plotting to attack a danish newspaper office. he could be given the death penalty if convicted. prosecutors say he's cooperating with the investigation. in washington, republicans are demanding answers to questions about the handling of the man charged with trying to blow up a passenger jet on christmas day. and turning thumbs down to the president's plans for other terror suspects. national correspondent catherine herridge fills us in. >> reporter: on the same day new york mayor michael bloomberg says he would like to see the 9/11 trials moved out of his city to -- >> other places that would be a lot less expensive and less inconvenient for people. >> reporter: the top republican in the house says the 9/11 criminal case is dead in the water. there is not going to be a trial in new york, i guarantee it, john boehner told reporters at pre"state of the union" breakfast. there is no appetite for the trials in congress. sentiments echoed by the senate minority people. >> can you try them in
6:14 pm
courts? you can. but should you? >> reporter: in a letter to eric holder mcconnell says they're not coming clean on the effort to send the suspect to criminal court where he lawyered up and clammed up. it appears the decision not to thoroughly investigate abdulmutallab was made by you or other senior officials in the department of justice. senator jeff sessions also signed the letter. >> the white house and the justice department have to change their approach. this is a pre9/11 approach. >> reporter: today a defense department spokesman suggested secretary gates was not in the decision-making loop on the nigerian suspect either. >> he was never consulted ahead of reading his miranda rights? >> i don't believe so. >> reporter: nevertheless, the white house says 50 minutes of questioning was adequa adequate. >> the f.b.i. interrogates believe they got valuable intelligence and were able to get all they could out of it. >> reporter: the former f.b.i. counterterrorism negotiator says some agents tell a different story.
6:15 pm
>> the description that has been related to me makes it hard to believe he was making much sense at all. he was burned very badly in a very private area. >> reporter: based on his 24 years with the f.b.i., voss says it takes multiple contact, not one 50-minute session to build rapport, which can turn a terrorist to intelligence asset. >> once they told you everything they possibly can, they are probably in a position to give you good assessment on what people might do. >> reporter: the justice department is standing behind the decision with umar farouk abdulmutallab. some of the information he got panned out. that he got training in yemen. for the 9/11 case, the justice department says it's moving forward and the trial can be held safely in federal court. bret? >> bret: we will continue to follow this story. i understand you have obtained the threat assessment for tonight's "state of the union" address, and there is something about lone offenders? >> reporter: that is correct.
6:16 pm
this says there is no credible intelligence of threat to te vent but the most likely threat it says would come from lone offenders. without using the word "terror" or "al-qaeda" it says major nidal hasan, fort hood shooter, is one example, though they were told recently it was an act of terrorism at fort hood. >> bret: we have define the stories to the connection to anwar al-awlaki in yemen. how the west can help yemeni authorities fight terrorism was subject of a conference in england. correspondent greg palkot has that story. >> reporter: yemen is a failing state. the poorest in the arab world. and since the failed christmas bombing charged to umar farouk abdulmutallab endorsed by the newest terror franchise yemen al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula it's gotten new world attention. >> the situation in yemen is of particular concern.
6:17 pm
it does truly affect all of us in a direct way. >> reporter: a meeting was held today in london attended by secretary of state clinton who will miss tonight's "state of the union" address by president obama. also in attendance, foreign ministers of 20 other countries plus representatives of the u.n. and other international organizations. the focus of the session addresses the internal problems of yemen. >> tackling terror to i feel, it's vital to tack the root causes. in yemen's case, these ra r m ma manifold. >> they pledged and $5 million committed at earlier summit has not been properly spent. corruption and patronage are serious issues. yemeni officials say they hear the call for reform. >> what the countries are going to do in corporation with yemen is help. so we can achieve national reform program, combat terrorism. >> reporter: dealing with the al-qaeda threat is behind all of this. new reports suggest strong
6:18 pm
involvement with the yemeni counterterror forces in the recent weeks. they confirm to fox there is cooperation and consultation. experts say the best weapon against terror is helping rebuild the country. >> strong statements from the government they are committed to bring reform through partnership. >> reporter: all of this amid signs of possible cease-fire between the side and insurgency battle in northern yemen. the participants are basically agreeing to meet again in future sessions with yemen in a friends of yemen contact group. for area of the world long ignored at least there is attention. in london, deborah jeane palfrey -- in london, greg palkot, fox news. >> it was told today that survivoring perpetrators of the holocaust should be brought to justice. it was made on the 65th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. germans are trying two suspect right now and pursuing other cases. not all of this year's super
6:19 pm
bowl commercials will be for beer and cars. one deals with controversial subject and has unlikely star. the star witness on capitol hill today. a treasury secretary under fire. ♪
6:20 pm
eggland's best eggs. the best in nutrition... just got better. even tter nutrition -- high in vitamins d, e, and b12. a good source of vitamin a and b2. plus omega 3's. and, 25% less saturated fat than ordinary eggs.
6:21 pm
but there's one important ingredient that hasn't changed: better taste. better taste. better taste. yum! [ female announcer ] eggland's best. better taste -- and now even better nutrition -- make the better egg.
6:22 pm
>> bret: it appears some in congress was not buying what treasury secretary tim geithner was selling today. correspondent molly henneberg reports on geithner's effort to explain his role in restricting information about what happened to billions of your tax dollars. >> reporter: why a house committee asked treasury secretary tim geithner today, was there so much secrecy about the taxpayers bail-out money given to insurance giant aig in fall 2008, which aig in turn passed along to some of the foundering
6:23 pm
clients or counterparties. such as goldman sachs, merrill lynch and deutsche bank. the names of the client were kept confidential for month. >> it was the new york fed that directed aig to withhold this information. >> reporter: at the time, geithner was in charge of the new york federal reserve but said he was not involved in that policy, in part because he had been nominated in late november of 2008 for treasury secretary. >> i withdrew from monetary policy decisions, policies involving individual financial inty tutions and daily management of the new york fed. >> reporter: he said he did not make the desilas, although he supported it, to pay counterparties 100% of what aig owed them instead of trying to negotiate a better deal. republican pounced. >> i'm telling you i believe these are lame excuses. either you were in charge and did the wrong thing or you participated in the wrong thing. >> congressman, i was there.
6:24 pm
i know what i was responsible for. >> reporter: republicans pointed to e-mails between the federal reserve employees one warning that congress will want to know, "who specifically are the counterparties? i'm sure we do not want to division close the counterparties, but what do we say? note, this is going to be part of the whole fed transparency discussion." >> it reduces ceduality for us to believe you had no role and didn't know about it. >> reporter: some democrats voiced fru frustration that aig got money. >> it stinks to high heaven what happened here. >> i know you hold your opinion strongly but i completely disagree. >> geithner says the clients were legally entitled to the money. financial experts say the federal reserve was concern identifying a client from the outset might have weakened investor confidence in the banks and damaged the financial system further. bret? >> bret: it isn't the end of
6:25 pm
this story. molly, thank you. new home sales fell by 7.6% in december. that capped the worst year for the industry since record keeping began in 1963. stocks bounced back today. the dow gained almost 42. the s&p 500 added 5 1/3. nasdaq was up 17 2/3. toyota says the faulty gas pedals that prompted recalls and suspension of production and sales were made by a supplier in el card, indiana. toyota will stop selling several of the top models including camry and car row la sedans and the rav 4 crossover. it's shutting down production at six assembly plants. an airline industry group says 2009 saw a 3 1/2% decline in passenger demand. that is the biggest ever. the international air transport association says the freight demand plunged more than 10%. it predicts the losses for 2010 of more than $5.5 billion. exploration of the final frontier is apparently just about the final priority of the obama administration.
6:26 pm
we'll explain. and teachers in one school district may soon be prohibited from telling their students to look it up in the dictionary. . 
6:27 pm
6:28 pm
6:29 pm
>> bret: and now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. a california school district has declared a war of words on the dictionary.
6:30 pm
menifee school district has yanked all copies of the mayor yum dictionary from its shelves after a student found oral sex. the district which has 9,000 students between kindergarten and 8th grade is poring over all the entries. one advocate says: mayor yam webster does have a children's dictionary made for inquisitive youngsters. nasa's frontier to the moon waste. no money for the constellation program that was supposed to return humans to the moon by 2020. instead, nasa will develop a rocket system that will take humans and robots beyond lower
6:31 pm
earth orbit but that could take years. in the meantime, the white house wants nasa to focus on researching and monitoring climate change. and a new quinnipiac university poll shows a majority of floridians do not want immigration laws waived to make it easier for haitians to stay in the u.s. in the wake of the devastating earthquake there. florida voters 51% to 43% say immigration laws should be fully enforced and 50% disprove of obama's decision to grant temporary legal status for 18 months. the upping young football star who has become the pride of florida is at the center of controversy which has nothing to do wins and losses a political stalemate set to be made on the biggest sports day of the year. >> the biggest showdown on super bowl sunday may not be on the field but on the ware waves as pro choice groups call on cbs to drop a pro-life ad featuring tim
6:32 pm
tebow and his mother pam. it's funded by the christian organization focus on the family. >> we know what the ad is. we thought this will be great for the country to see. we didn't expect the level of controversy, especially from people that haven't seen the ad. >> the ad will tell the story of pam tebow's decision not to have an abortion while pregnant with tim. a number of women's groups say they not only object to the ad but the number of people behind it the national organization of family calls the ad anti-woman. promoting ideology over medicine. the women's media center says focus on the family is anti-equality and divisive. >> they are known to spew hate and be very divisive. i have no doubt that that will come through. i don't believe it has a place, again, this unamerican hate doesn't have a place in this all-american past time. >> catholic organizations tried to air a pro-life commercial during last year's super bowl. it was rejected by nbc which reportedly told the groups it
6:33 pm
did not allow political or issue advertisements. this year cbs is standing by its decision to feature the spots by the tebows. in a statement they say: >> some people won't agree with it. you know, but i think they can at least respect that i stand up for what i believe and i'm never, you know, shy about that. >> the women's media center says cbs is risking alienating viewers and the dollars they would spend with other cbs advertisers. conservative groups like concerned women for america wants to know why liberal counterparts haven't raised objections to sexual graphic or misogynistic don't. in washington, shannon bream, fox news. >> bret: the filmmaker who was accused 6 trying to bug the
6:34 pm
office of mary landrieu is defending himself, sort of. he says on his twitter page, quote, i am a journalist. the truth shall set me free. o'keefe and three others were arrested at mary landrieu's office monday. o'keefe is the one who made the undercover videos from workers from acorn organization dispensing advice on how to break the law. weave have a web site to have you visit. go to foxfox news.com/"special report" to see our redesigned home page. it features the best of the grapevine. exclusive video teases. brit hume. link to my blog. archives of some of our most interesting stories. much more. you see it there. check it out. the address again fox news.com/"special report." we will preview the state of the union speech with the fox all stars when we come back. years from now, how will we look back on today?
6:35 pm
6:36 pm
as the great recession? or as the recession that made us great? allstate has seen twelveecoveries. but this one's different. because we're different. we realized our things are not as important... as the future we're building with the ones we love. protect yours. put it... in good hands. ♪
6:37 pm
6:38 pm
>> what we can't do at a time that we are in two wars and we have a very determined enemy in al qaeda, we can't stand down. we have to make sure that we have adequate defense. >> so the white house would disagree with the speaker on that particular jmpleghts well, i haven't heard what the speaker had to say. so i'm not going to get into a debate with the speaker. the freeze that we're recommending is for discretionary spending. >> bret: state of the union address tonight. the house speaker nancy pelosi coming out with reaction to one of the proposals we already know about. and that is a spending freeze for three years on non-discretionary spending. now, here is what she said. she told politico, quote, well, i think if there is going to be a spending freeze, it should be across the board. that is to say we all want a strong national defense and we want to defend it in an appropriate way. we are not here to protect defense contractors. and the fact is, if we have to cut spending, we should subject
6:39 pm
every dollar to that same scrutiny. it's just one proposal already getting pushed back from the house speaker on the left. let's bring in our panel about the state of the union address. steve hayes senior writer for "the weekly standard." a.b. stoddard associate writer of the hill. and charles krauthammer. it's a little usual to hear the speaker weigh in on the day of the state of the union address on the. >> she says defense spending is goodies for defense contractors there is a substantive problem she has. this perfectly incapsulates the president's first year in my view. this has been his problem. his difficulty over the first year and the reason that i think he finds himself in so much trouble going into the state of the union has been his own party. he has had huge majorities in both chambers of congress. he has he been able to enact his agenda. he hasn't been able to do the big things that he said he was going to do a year ago. it's not because republicans have been too partisan. this is a call you are hearing
6:40 pm
by democrats all day today circulating in the white house talking points, republicans haven't been playing ball. that's simply not the case. the real problem the president has is bringing his own party along on an agenda that i think is so radical it scared the centrists in his own party. so that's where his problem is. he has people like nancy pelosi continuing to try to pull him left. >> a.b.? >> of course the liberals in his party are miserable. for the speaker to make a statement like that this afternoon right before the state of the union is really a shot across the bough. which doesn't touch medicare, medicaid or education. obviously doesn't touch military. it's unpopular in the party as it is in the republican party in the center as it is with everybody. the president knowing that the congress is extremely unpopular, popping up in poll after poll, day after day. both republicans and the democratic majorities in congress and the president, i think, will try to put some distance between himself and the
6:41 pm
congress tonight. this spending freeze will be a big fight. a fight he will probably lose. but i think that that was an indication from the speaker that the liberal wing of the party, which is very disappointed on many policy issues with the president, has had it. >> bret: charles, let's step back 30,000 feet here about what you expect tonight, perhaps what he has to do. >> well, the president has a choice. he can do a genuine pivot to the center the way that bill clinton did when he suffered a defeat early in his first term, or he can fake it. i guess that he is going to attempt the second. and that is for two reasons. the first is that he is not a hostage of the party's left. he is a man of the left. clinton was a man of the center. he had long been in the dlc, which is the centrist faction of his party. obama is a man harvard faculty club, 20 years in the pew of jeremiah wright much this is
6:42 pm
where he is and where he lived. you saw it all in his agenda this year. it was a left-wing agenda. secondly, it's a question of his vanity. he is a man that believes that he can still do the magic. he believes with his silver tongue he can talk ayatollahs into giving up nukes. with silver tongue he can talk america into believing you can expand health care by 30 million people and cut cost at the same time. even after massachusetts was defeated because of insufficiency of communication with the american people. this is a guy who has been on the tube practically every night. this is a man who i think fake a pivot and will at least attempt it and see if it works. we saw a hint of that when he announced the freeze yesterday, which is in and of itself a phony and a fraud. >> bret: i had lunch today at the white house with the president and the other anchors who are covering the state of the union address. and the overall tone was a little bit defiant. he says he is upbeat. there is a sense a.b., that this
6:43 pm
white house is still going to push ahead, or try to, with health care reform because they have come this far and they are not turning back. what about that? >> well, they are making the argument, you heard the president's team all weekend long making the argument that the democrats have supported either house bill or the senate bill are going to pay for their support of those bills. so at this point they must jump off the cliff. and at least get the credit for an accomplishment and hope that history vind indicates that vote in the years to come in a less politically hostile environment. that's actually probably true. it's probably the true that they have already poisoned their records by supporting a bill that most americans are still afraid of and maybe, perhaps, don't entirely understand. we are not going to see a pivot tonight though. and i understand why the president was defiant. they have made it clear that they think that their agenda -- that they have the right agenda and that they failed to explain it they will explain it one more time so it's a repackage and it's a reframe but it's not a retreat. and we won't see a big -- a
6:44 pm
policy turn. it is literally some polishing some substance and style. it might be -- he might be relying on the silver tongue but i think that but for putting a little distance between himself and the unpopular congress, i don't think we will see anything new. >> bret: i should point out that lunch is off the record and i can't get into quotes and everything he said which is why i am not telling that youment -- you that. rahm emanuel said we could have won, we being the white house and democrats in washington could have won that senate seat. >> it's absolutely astonishing that they are continuing to say. this you have heard similar comments from robert gibbs and david axelrod. it's clear this is the white house view institutionally. this is what they think. it is crazy. >> bret: what they take out of the election that it was the candidate. >> yeah. that it wasn't a repudiation of the obama agenda as charles has pointed out several times. scott brown campaigned specifically to be the 41st center against health care.
6:45 pm
he campaigned specifically against the administration's policies on mirandizing terrorists, giving them rights and trying them in civilian trials. issue by issue, by issue, scott brown campaigned against the white house. they have can say that all they want, but it simply -- it doesn't make it true. >> bret: final word. >> if the president is under the impression it's one more speech, one more attempt rhetorically he is reaching a level of obliviousness which approaches clinical denial. >> bret: in his mind he is, what trying to build up political capital that was lost from last week? >> look, i would be reassured if i thought he was cynical in saying all of this. if he believes it, i think he has lost touch with political realities and in the end meaning in november he will pay. >> bret: republicans are going after the attorney general of the christmas day bombing suspect and what happened there we will talk about all of that and the trials in new york in three minutes.
6:46 pm
6:47 pm
6:48 pm
6:49 pm
>> bret: this is a fox news alert. we can now confirm that president obama will ask congress tonight in his state of the union address to repeal the don't ask don't tell policy in the military. that's the policy for gays in the military to not announce their sexual orientation. the president will ask congress to repeal that in his speech tonight. it's something we have heard from the left that they wanted to see and the president tonight will say it and ask congress to do it. another issue we are talking about here is the christmas day bomber, how it was handled, how he was mirandized, the process, and also the trials planned for new york and suspected terrorist. take a listen to today's sound. >> we can bring justice in this country. we can seek justice on behalf of
6:50 pm
the thousands that were killed on 9/11. we shouldn't be afraid to employ our justice system on behalf of bringing murderous terrorist thugs to justice once and for all. >> apparently it's going to cost $200 million. is that about right? >> 236. >> 236 for the city to put on this show trial. it strikes me substantial benefit of our adversaries, the terrorists. the american people don't get, this don't understand it. >> bret: new york mayor michael bloomberg came out today saying he wants the trial some place else other than new york. here is what the house minority leader told reporters including myself this morning, quote: there is not going to be a trial in new york. i guarantee it. there is no be a tight for the trials in congress. i don't see it. this is a big issue, a big issue we will campaign on this year. we are back with the panel. charles? >> the republicans are going to save the president's hide on this. because i think, in fact, when you get the mayor of new york
6:51 pm
today recommending that the trial be held elsewhere, you are beginning to get some cover. you have got the introduction of a bill by a member of the senate and member of the house to actually, to cut off the funding, which is a way of congress stepping in and preventing the trial. i think if that happens, the administration will have dodged a bullet. because if the trial actually happens, and it will be a circus. it will be a propaganda disaster, and it will be a security nightmare, it would hurt the administration every day as the news broadcasts in the evening. if it is averted by congressional action, it will be a single hit on the administration and it's not going to be a constant drain on them. so i think, in fact, that they are lucking out on being stopped from doing, really, a really i had 00 dick decision. >> bret: a.b., we have been reporting on this for a while and other news organizations haven't really touched it but yesterday lindsey graham says he has a bunch of democrats signed on to pull the funding for the new york trials.
6:52 pm
>> i think if you look at what is happening with this question of the trial and also what's happening with the question of the would-be christmas day bomber, being treated as a

278 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on